


In the Balance

by Meril



Category: Shin Shirayuki-hime Densetsu Prétear | Prétear - The New Legend of Snow White
Genre: Gen, Yuletide, challenge:Yuletide 2005
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-12-25
Updated: 2005-12-25
Packaged: 2017-11-22 11:50:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/609523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meril/pseuds/Meril
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sasame and the Princess of Disaster think about keeping the balance between love and hate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Balance

Sasame floated in the sealed bubble of the Leafe healing field and thought about the events that had brought him to this point. They had gone up against the Princess of Disaster and were proven unworthy. Himeno was not ready to face her head-on yet, which was made abundantly clear. The Princess had taken hold of him and drained him of Leafe nearly to the point of death. It was only what he deserved. He had chained her, after all, and not given her enough love. It was no wonder that his beautiful Prétear had become the Princess of Disaster, the bringer of destruction. She was still beautiful, even in her hate. They had brought her to the point of hate, after all.

He thought of his own feelings about the world. He did not like everyone, but nor could he hate them. His feelings were irrelevant, especially with the world as it was. Himeno needed someone to count on, as Hayate was showing her nothing but coldness and gruffness. He knew why, of course; Hayate did not want her falling in love with him. There would be no repeat of Takako's collapse. The Prétear must be strong, and showing her how hard it could be would discourage her from caring for her taskmaster. However, Sasame thought, there must be a Prétear. Hayate was also doing a marvelous job of attempting to make sure there wouldn't be one at all. Sasame was doing his best to encourage her, to work with her, to make her the perfect Prétear that they all knew there must be. He knew that the rest of the Leafe Knights were doing their best with her, as well, but there was only so much they could do. They were all caught up in their own problems. Hayate, of course, was worried about creating a second Princess of Disaster. Kei seemed to be holding himself apart, sinking himself into work and occasionally surfacing to look at the rest of them with some sort of cool detachment. Go had his hands full with his job and with looking after the boys. The boys themselves were relatively free of worldly concerns. They were still of an age where self-interest was most important. Lately Mannen had been feeling resentful of being treated like a child. He may have thought he was growing up, but he was still acting like the young boy he was. The other two were really too young to know what was going on. To them, Himeno was the big sister who would take care of them. They knew they had to obey her and care for her, but what could they do but little? Sasame had to keep them together, to keep them focused on the goal, to make sure the Prétear would be able to be strong. But it was a wearying, thankless task, and he was getting tired. The radio show was draining enough, with the constant postcards coming from girls who were feeling unsure, but now he had a live girl feeling unsure. Again. Just like Takako had been, sixteen years before.

They didn't care about Takako; and, now, here she was, lashing out at anyone or anything that came near to her. He could not blame her. They had committed the ultimate betrayal. In sealing her away, they had rejected her and any hope of her redemption. All she had now was hate. Once he recovered, he would show her love.

* * *

Takako locked the door of the room behind her. Her disguise as the Awayuki family's loyal maid was working well. No one suspected that she was the one who would eventually destroy them. They seemed to be doing a good enough job of doing that on their own, however. Natsue ignored her daughters in favor of her husband, and he ignored the world save for his silly plaster hobby and, occasionally, Natsue. Mayune was consumed with her desire to show up Himeno. Himeno was ignored by all of them, and spent her time learning to be the Prétear. She would be an easy Prétear to defeat. The darkness and sorrow in her heart would eventually consume Himeno as it had taken over herself. There would be no happy ending for her. Takako smiled, and thought of the most despairing Awayuki of all. Mawata was alone, rejecting all contact, and losing herself in her favorite radio show. Which was, she recalled, hosted by one of the Leafe Knights. She knew Sasame loved her, regardless of her becoming the Princess of Disaster. She would use this love in order to get at Mawata. She had many, many plans for Mawata. Her sorrow would be her tool to eventually destroy the world; but first, the Princess of Disaster would have to capture her. Takako laughed. The girl trusted her maid, after all. All of them did. It would be so easy to poison her heart against the world, and then shatter it.

Takako went to the room's only window, which was small and looked out over the grounds. All this Leafe on the grounds, and it would soon be gone. Destroyed. Destroyed like her heart was for daring to love Hayate. She reveled in the thought that he would soon be destroyed as well, along with the rest of them. To think that once she could love! It was really unimaginable. The only thing other human beings are for, after all, is to use; anything else is superfluous, she thought. She was the Princess of Disaster, the perfect engine of hate. Hate and destruction were all. They rejected her love then. They would never, ever be able to reject her hate now. It was too strong. It would consume them all. Even Sasame, who dared--even now!--to love her. He loved her even as she drained him nearly dry of life. She knew he would come to reject the feelings his fellow Knights had for him, as well as the feelings that idiot Prétear had for him, and come over to her. She would never pretend to love him. She would tell him, in fact, that she had no love for him. He would follow her regardless. She would show him her perfect hate.


End file.
